Boat loading attachment for automobiles



3, 1943. c FORD I 2,325,762

BOAT LOADING ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Oct. 1, 1941 Palented Aug. 3, 1943 BOAT LOADING ATTACHDIENT FOR AUTOMOBILES Carl F. Ford, Sigourney, Iowa Application October 1, 1941, Serial No. 413,225

1 Claim.

The object of my invention is to provide improved means to assist in the loading of boats to position to be carried on top of an automobile and especially adapted to be used in connection with top carriers of ordinary construction used to support a boat thereon after it has been loaded, and wherein the loading may be accomplished by a single person.

More specifically, it is the object of my invention to provide a device for the purpose above described, employing anti-friction rollers and means for supporting said rollers, including vacuum cups, and means for fixing the supporting means to one of the top carrier elements in detachable manner.

' A further object is to provide in a boat-loading device, an improved bracket for supporting the anti-friction rollers, and means for easily and quickly attaching the roller to or detaching it from said bracket.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an automobile showing one of the top carrier elements of ordinary construction mounted thereon, and the means by which my improved loading device is attached thereto, and also showing the manner in which a boat may be loaded on the carrier elements;

Figure 2 is a plan view of my improved loading device;

Figure 31s a detail sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

In the drawing I have usedthe numeral ill to indicate a portion of an automobile body on which is mounted a carrier device I l of ordinary construction, employing a cross bar l2, a bracket I3 for supporting the same, and vacuum cups M by means of which the brackets [3 are mounted on the top of the body l0, there being two of these carrier devices, one near each end of the top for supporting the boat in an inverted position when placed thereon.

My improved device comprises a pair of vacuum cups l5 each provided with an upright post l6 having mounted on its upper end a head I'l, said head being provided with horizontally arranged pipes i8, each of which is provided with an elbow I9, one of said elbows having an upright nipple 20 and the other one an upright nipple 2 I- Connected to the upper end of the nipple 20 is a pipe T 22, while the nipple 2| has an elbow 23, all of the above said parts being fixed together-in a permanent manner.

Screw threaded into the elbow 23 is one end of a shaft 24, the other end of the shaft being slidably mounted in the T 22, said shaft being placed in position by being passed through said T 22, the inner end of the shaft 24 having a slot 25 for receiving a screw driver by means of which,

the shaft may be detachably mounted in the elbow 23.

A roller 26 is provided with a longitudinal and central opening 21 having a sleeve 28 in each end and rotatably mounted on the shaft 24. The outer surface of the roller 26 is covered with a layer of rubber or other yieldable material 29.

The inner end of one of the elbows 23 is provided with a rod or pipe 30, said rod 30 being connected to the other elbow in a detachable manner by means of a pipe union 3|, thus providing means whereby the two rollers supporting brackets may be disconnected from each other to permit them to be stored in a comparatively small space when not in use.

Projectin laterally from the forward side of each of the members I1 I have provided a curved pipe 32, each pipe having at its free end a clamp device 33 provided with a set screw 34 for securing the clamp to the cross member [2 of the top carrier in the manner clearly illustrated in Fig- Hire 1, with the cups i5 resting on the rear end of the top, substantially as illustrated in Figure 1, with the tops of the rollers 26 substantially horizontally even with the top of the member I2, said rollers 33 being supported rearwardly of the rear member [2 some distance, so that a boat may be inverted and placed in an inclined position with the gunnels of the boat resting on the rollers, after which the owner of the boat may grasp the lower end and slide it longitudinally in an upwardly and forwardly plane until the forward end of the boat will overbalance the rear end, permitting the body of the 'boat to swing to a horizontal position with the gunnels of the boat resting on the cross bars l2. The boat may then be slid forwardly to the proper distance to balance it on the top carrier, after which suitable straps, not illustrated, and carried by the carrier elements, may be utilized to bind the boatin position on said top carrier. By this arrangement it will readily be seen that a single person may easily and quickly load a boat weighing 200 or 250 lbs. ver easily and quickly.

The cups l5 are of such shape and flexible enough so that they will yield to permit the cup to flt the rearwardly and downwardly inclined portion of the top without any adjustment of the cup relative to the post iii. The sleeves'lfl in the roller 26 provide means whereby the rollers are free to rotate on the shaft at all times, the rollers 25 being of such length that either a boat having a narrow beam, or one with a comparatively wide beam may be loaded without any adjustment of the roller bracketsone towards the other.

Thus, it will be seen I have provided a boatloadlng device of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, which may be easily and quickly applied, and .when so applied, provide means whereby a boat weighing 200 or 250 lbs. may be with very little stantially U-shaped members supported in an upright plane, an upright supporting each of said U-shaped members, a vacuum cup supporting each of said uprights, with each of said U-shaped member having a threaded opening in one leg and a second opening in the other leg thereof, a shaft corresponding to each of said U-shaped members adapted to be passed through a second openin and having a threaded portion for threaded engagement with athreaded opening,

a roller rotatably mounted on each of said shafts,

a shaft connecting said two U-shaped members i in a common plane and with said rollers in CARL F. FORD. 

